KU Law to host lecture on public trust doctrine and environmental rights
LAWRENCE — The University of Kansas School of Law will host environmental law scholar Erin Ryan for a public lecture Oct. 30 as part of the Big 12 Law Schools Signature Lecture Series.
Ryan, associate dean for environmental law programs and the Elizabeth C. & Clyde W. Atkinson Professor of Law at the Florida State University College of Law, will present “Law for the Land: The Public Trust Doctrine, Mono Lake and a Quiet Revolution in Environmental Rights.” The lecture will explore themes from her forthcoming book of the same title, to be published by Cambridge University Press in 2026.
The event will take place from 4 to 5:15 p.m. in 106 Green Hall at the School of Law. It is free and open to the public, with options to attend in person or virtually. Registration is requested.
Ryan is a leading scholar in environmental and natural resources law, water law, property, land use, federalism and negotiation. She oversees the Center for Environmental, Energy, and Land Use Law at Florida State and was recognized in 2022 with the university’s Innovation in Teaching Award.
Her scholarship and commentary have appeared in national and international outlets including the Associated Press, Chicago Tribune, Foreign Policy, Huffington Post, Financial Times and NPR. She is also the author of “Federalism and the Tug of War Within” (Oxford University Press, 2012) and has lectured at leading universities and government agencies across the United States, Europe and Asia.
Before entering academia, Ryan clerked for Judge James Browning of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and practiced environmental, land use and local government law in San Francisco. A former U.S. Forest Service ranger on the Mono Lake District of the Inyo National Forest, Ryan earned degrees from Harvard College, Wesleyan University and Harvard Law School.
The newly established Big 12 Law Schools Signature Lecture Series showcases a distinguished event from each member school, selected for its intellectual rigor and impact. The KU event is made possible through a generous grant from the Foundation for Natural Resources and Energy Law.